Posts Tagged ‘Hotel Occupancy Rates’
Panama Business: Panama’s Tourism Shows No Signs of Deceleration
Panama City, Panama (PRWEB) February 7, 2009
Panama continues to break its own tourism records. Tourism Chamber president Jaime Campuzano told the daily “Panama America”: “In 2009 the growth will be sustained because Panama continues diversifying its market and products.” In 2008, 1.6 million visitors entered the country, some 211,472 more than in 2007. Of those travelers 1.1 million entered through Tocumen Airport.
On average, the number of visitors has grown by 12% per annum between 2004 and 2008. Last year, the USA was the number one provider of tourists to the country, with 308,991 visitors last year. In second place, 209,442 Colombians entered the country. Via land, 124,778 visitors came through Paso Canoas and 276,442 visitors entered through maritime ports.
The Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) announced that the spending average of tourists totaled $ 2.2 billion, a 23% increase over the 2007 figures. This represents approximately 12% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, which was $ 18.6 billion last year.
Hotel occupancy rates are also looking good “Category One” hotels (100 rooms or more) were at 79% occupancy with an 8.9 day average stay. Per-night hotel stays were up 12% last year, with a total of 2.5 million nights of hotel rooms sold.
The increase in demand, according to ATP General Administrator Carl Fredrik Nordström, is due to tourism generated from people who travel from Europe. Direct flights by KLM and Iberia (from Amsterdam and Madrid, respectively) and charters from Finland made great contributions to the positive tourism figures reflected in the 2008 report. Crime against visitors is a very important figure for industry leaders. Last year, 0.04% of the crimes committed were against tourists.
According to Panama Business and Travel S.A. an investment portal dedicated to providing investment news to foreigners, projections for 2009 will exceed 1.8 million visitors coming to Panama and the historical two million mark will be reached in 2010.
Press release provided by Panama Business and Travel S.A., A Focus Publications company. Panama Business and Travel is a site that assists readers in finding information regarding the country of Panama. The site Panama Business and Travel offers information on Panama in both business and tourism.
By Jacob Ehrler, Managing Editor of The Visitor weekly newspaper in the Republic of Panama
Collaboration: Andrés Villa
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Hotel Occupancy Rates in Panama is High
Hotel occupancy rates are steady at 80 to 90% and the government of Panama has asked developers to build more hotels because their simply isn’t enough rooms to accommodate the increase in foreigners and businessmen.
Major hotel names have moved to Panama including Donald Trump, whom has begun building the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Casino, and has announced plans in 2009 to build a second project. The Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock International plans its first Latin American hotel in Panama, and Miami based Nikki Beach Hotels and Resorts has plans to build an oceanfront resort and city tower. “Panama is gaining from tough U.S security rules after September 11, 2001, which makes it more cumbersome for foreigners to obtain U.S visas and cross U.S gateways.” According to the president of Nikki Beach Hotels, “A lot of our international customers refuse to come to the United States now because of the hassles. It’s so much easier to get into other countries.” Jamaica’s all inclusive chain SuperClubs is opening its first Central American resort in Playa Blanca as well. Panama is also becoming more accessible, as of late 2008 Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines made Panama one of its home ports and Dutch airline KLM, now merged with Air France, has resumed direct flights from Amsterdam to Tocumen airport in Panama City in response to increasing demand.
